Making Her Believe
by confessorlove
Summary: Kahlan has to take a mate. Richard gets mad when it isn't him. Written for my emotion: anger square on my kissbingo card from livejournal Additional info inside


**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of the Seeker or it's characters. Set in Show verse  
**

**Author's Note: Set Post Tears but Richard and Kahlan have no idea that they can be together. And beta'd by the awsm cballecer from twitter 33  
**

It hurt him more than she would ever know that they couldn't be together. Even though he knew it was her duty, she didn't need to be so willing. It broke his heart when she told him she was going to take a mate. But now seeing her in the arms of another man, his blood was boiling. No one touched his Kahlan. The fact that she had just accepted this and not even tried to fight for him made him even more upset. He would always fight for her, even when she was telling him to leave so she could lie with another. Even the fact that he could tell she wasn't enjoying his affections did nothing to ease his anger. She was officially announcing to the people that that murderer was to be her mate, the father of her children. The thought made him sick.

He watched her getting ready to go out onto the balcony with her mate, and he couldn't take it anymore. He had to talk to her, even if she just told him she wanted him to leave. She was standing proud, her white Mother Confessor's dress almost shimmering in the light of the setting sun, her confessor's face hiding the way she was truly feeling about this. "Kahlan." He spoke her name as he grasped her elbow and pulled her back around the corner, "I need to talk to you."

"There is nothing to talk about." She kept her voice firm and in control even though the way he was looking at her was slowly killing her inside.

"Don't tell me there is nothing to talk about, Kahlan Amnell. I love you. I can't just stand idly by as you proclaim another man your mate, the father of your future children. I just can't."

"This is why I told you to leave. You knew that I needed to take a mate to continue my line but you still stayed, everyday your presence making it harder and harder for me to do what I had to."

Neither of them were yelling but there was a venom to their words that was easily damaging to the other's feelings, though neither admitted it. Each word they exchanged pouring more salt in their wounded hearts and causing them more pain. She didn't want to be saying hurtful things to him right now. She didn't want to be hurting him like this but there was no other way. She needed to bear a child. Her heart broke at the thought of it not being his.

"Kahlan, you can't do this. It's killing me. It's killing us. Don't tell me that you gave up on us, because I never gave up on us. Even when you were telling me every step of the way that we would never work, that we would never be happy, I never gave up faith. You're giving up, Kahlan. You're choosing the easy path. I thought I meant more to you than a few difficult decisions."

"You think this was an easy decision? This was the hardest choice I have ever made in my whole life. It's breaking my heart to do this to you Richard but there really is no alternative."

"No alternative? There is an alternative, Kahlan. You are just choosing to ignore it."

Her voice suddenly took on a scared quality showing him how much she really feared what she would do to him. "NO. THAT ISN'T AN ALTRENATIVE!" She yelled at him.

"Tell me this isn't the alternative," he spoke as he pulled her into a rough kiss, backing her up against the wall as he let his anger about this situation be expressed in the way he was kissing her. He was being rougher than he normally would have been, but he couldn't help it, he needed to feel her and his raging emotions were in control of his actions. He needed her to know that he wasn't taking no for an answer.

She didn't want to give in. She knew if she did she would only hurt his heart more. So she let her anger take over, pushing him away before her true feelings had an opportunity to take over.

He was stunned. She hadn't pulled away in the longest time, since their very first kiss. He just stood there for a moment with a dumbstruck look upon his face wondering if this was what she really wanted, if she really wanted that other man. That thought just made him even angrier. He needed to leave before he did something he regretted. As he turned to leave he saw a look of pain flash across her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by misplaced anger. "Good! Go. I don't want you anyway. I never needed you!" She hollered down the hall at him.

Her words cut his heart like a knife. It took him a moment to remember how to breathe. He spun on his heels before marching back towards her. "The Mother Confessor herself telling a lie? That's not very ethical."

"I'm not lying and I don't care about ethics. I don't want you here, Richard. You are just being difficult. Leave."

He glared at her; his normally warm eyes had an icy look to them. "No. I'm not leaving. I'm not giving up on us, Kahlan. I can't believe you would just give up on us. On all that we mean to each other."

"I have to. This is for the best. You know it is. Just go, Richard." The cold tone that had filled her voice previously had softened, the mask of her confessor's face falling away. He could see she wasn't angry anymore, she didn't hate him. All she was was a heartbroken woman doing what was best for her people. He couldn't be mad at her for that.

"Kahlan, please. I know we can make this work. I'm not afraid of your powers. You've already confessed me, the first moment I saw you my heart was yours." He gently took her hands in his as he stared into her clear blue eyes. "You can't hurt me. Take me as your mate."

Her eyes began glistening with tears when he said that. She wanted nothing more in this world than to love Richard like a normal woman could love a man, but it wasn't that simple. "I can't. I can't destroy you."

Grasping her by the shoulders, his anger forgotten, all he cared about was helping her see that it was okay, that they could be together. "Kahlan, it's alright. You can't destroy me. I'm already yours."

"How can you be so sure?" Her tears were spilling over, running down her cheeks.

"I know." He spoke with such certainty, conveying to her how sure he was of this. "Trust me Kahlan. I know your powers won't destroy me. I've been confessed to you since the first moment I laid eyes upon you."

She could see the truth of his words. She broke into a grin at the thought that maybe he was right after all. Maybe they could be together. She wouldn't have to take a mate; she could have the man she loved. She wanted nothing more than to hang on to that glimmer of hope and never have it taken from her.

"Trust me, Kahlan. Everything is going to be fine."

"I do trust you." She was relaxing, no longer on edge from their argument. Richard being this close to her was a comfort in itself. "You might be right. You are so sure."

"I am sure. I'm yours and yours alone. Nothing can change that. Your magic can't keep me from loving you. I already love you more than your magic."

She smiled, so glad to have finally been convinced. He had been trying for so long to make her see what he knew in his heart. He pulled her into his arms, now that he was sure she wasn't going to pull way again and he kissed her like he had always dreamed of kissing her. She was back against the wall before she knew it, his hands sliding over her curvaceous form, tracing the boning of her corset with his fingers.

Their kiss was growing in passion every second, her hand slipping inside his shirt to feel his well formed muscles; they were starting to forget that they were in the middle of the hallway. His mouth greedily claiming hers, letting her know that she would be with no other man.

The sound of someone clearing their throat followed by them speaking Kahlan's title drew them from each other. She pushed Richard back, trying to locate the source for the disturbance. Spotting one of the Mother Confessor's head maids watching them, she knew exactly who had spoken her title. Composing herself quickly, trying to fight the urge to be embarrassed she spoke with authority only fitting the Mother Confessor. "Yes, Clara."

"Mother Confessor, it's time. You're needed on the balcony."

"I'm not going on the balcony. I'm not taking that man as my mate so there is no need for me to lie to the people."

"But with all due respect Mother Confessor, you have to take a mate."

"I never said I wasn't." She smiled at Richard, her desire for him brightly shinning in her eyes. Grasping his hand in hers she looked back at Clara. "Richard is going to be the father of my children."

"Mother Confessor, I know you care for him but you can't confess the Seeker."

She broke into a wide grin so happy in her new knowledge that she wouldn't confess him. "Exactly. I'm not going to confess him."

"I don't understand."

"Didn't you just see us? Don't even bother answering, I know you did. Do you honestly think I would have let it go that far if I wasn't certain that he couldn't be confessed? I would never risk his soul. Not for anything. I love him too much to do that to him." Her tone was harsh and accusatory, letting everyone know how much she hated the thought that anyone would think she would hurt Richard.

Kahlan turned away from the maid, hoping to pull Richard into her quarters to finish what was so rudely interrupted. However, before she had taken five steps, Clara was talking to her again. "What do you want me to tell them, Mother Confessor?"

"The truth. Tell them that I'm not taking that man as my mate. Tell them that Richard and I are going to be together, that he will be the father of my children. They don't—"

"The father of your children and your husband," he spoke cutting her off. "That is, if you will be my wife?"

Completely ignoring the maid she turned to Richard, a bright smile illuminating her face. "Nothing in this world would make me happier."

She kissed him then, not caring who was watching. She just needed to show him how much this meant to her. He held her tightly against him, so glad that he could finally show her all that she meant to him. This was one of the happiest moments of his life. He knew that if he was starting a life with Kahlan then there would be many more happy days in the future. Breaking the kiss for breath he rested his forehead against hers, staring deeply into her eyes. He could be captured by the gaze of her clear blue eyes for the rest of his life and not regret a moment of it. "I think we have some unfinished business," he whispered to her.

She couldn't hide the desire in her eyes that his words sparked. The thought almost made her weak in the knees. "I suppose you're right. We do have unfinished business," she whispered back, her voice holding a hint of a seductive tone.

The maid just watched as Kahlan took Richard's hand and led him down the hallway and around the corner to her quarters. She really couldn't believe it, but she was happy for Kahlan. If anyone deserved to be with the one they loved, it was her. After all she had done for the Midlands, she was glad Kahlan was getting what she was truly worthy of— someone to love her back, for just being her.


End file.
